Planning is underway for our 32nd annual symposium, which will be held on September 25–27 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson. This event is a major undertaking — but with many volunteers, we can easily make it happen! This is your chance to contribute to what we hope is the best symposium yet.
Who’s on Board so Far…
Co-chairs: John Villinski (Clear Creek Associates) and Mike Block (Metro Water District, retired)
Sponsorships: Mike Block (Metro Water District, retired), who will also coordinate raffle prizes, the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the new AHS Service Award
Venue food and beverages: John Villinski (Clear Creek Associates)
Student awards and Project WET: Marla Odom (Montgomery & Associates (M&A))
Marketing / outreach: Nancy Riccio (AHS Communications Director)
Registration: Nancy Riccio (AHS Communications Director)
Photography: Shawn Calendine (hydroGEOPHYSICS), who did an outstanding job at the Phoenix symposium!
Master of ceremonies / on-site fundraising for the AHS Foundation: AHS Corporate President Mike Hulst (NV5)
A number of others have expressed interest in volunteering: Erin Gray and Dick Thompson (Tucson Water), Gary Burchard and Wally Wilson (Metro Water District), Julia Fonseca (Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation), James Brown (Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department), Mekha Pereira and Jonathan Whittier (M&A), Victoria Hermosilla (UA), and Richard Siegel (SRP).
Volunteer Needs
This list will evolve as our program develops, but here are some preliminary needs that we’ve identified.
Technical Program Team. This team will shape the program and focus of the symposium! We welcome volunteers to identify speakers for technical and poster sessions, which may cover topics such as WQARF/CERCLA remediation, groundwater flow modeling, well drilling methods, watershed restoration, mining hydrology, and many others. This will entail managing and reviewing abstracts via our online submission system and contacting speakers directly to recruit them.
CAP Student Grant Coordinator. We also need a volunteer to coordinate student poster presenters and speakers who will be funded from a CAP grant.
Plenary / Lunch Speakers Coordinator. Additionally, two more individuals are needed to provide suggestions on plenary speakers (two to three) and the Thursday lunch speaker.
Registration. We’ll need one or two volunteers for the registration desk to work one, two, or all three days during the symposium.
Become a Volunteer!
Volunteering is a commitment. This year, we’ve tried to streamline the planning process by minimizing the number of large group meetings and instead encourage teams to meet in smaller groups for periodic work sessions.
Symposium planning meetings will likely be held at the offices of M&A from about 5:00 or 5:30 PM and last no more than an hour and a half, with food and beverages provided. We envision only four to five large group meetings. We’ll send out a Doodle poll to find an optimum date and time for the first meeting, probably in early February.
To learn more or sign up as a volunteer, contact either John Villinski or Mike Block.